Break on Through
by Sideos
Summary: After one fateful accident, Jack begins to question the very reality around him. Things begin to change...he begins to change. Is he losing his mind? Or is he finally finding it? Either way, things wont ever be the same again.
1. Third Eye of Zheng

Good morning.

Before I start this little ficlette let me intro myself. I am Sideos. My fics usually have little symbolic themes running through them, so if you're up to it, keep an eye out for them.

I'm a big fan of Gilliam films, so expect a few degrees of surrealism, especially in this because I wanna kinda wave in a…Alice in Wonderland influences maybe...who knows?

Anyway. I'm not going to move in any one direction on this. I wanna make it so that it's hard to tell exactly what's true or not.

Is Jack really living in a dream world? Or is he just going mad? Or maybe a bit of both…

Think Donnie Darko but with the OMGWHATTHEHELL!!1! factor turned down.

So, without further ado, here's the fic.

I own nothing cept the things.

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Jack Spicer hated the great outdoors. Ever since the whole Gigi incident a few years back he had developed a deep distrust of nature.

"Give me cities and civilisation any day." he muttered to himself as his Jack-Bots cut a path through the dense Chinese forest.

The ancient trees loomed up around them, as did an endless supply of bushes, vines, flowers and tonnes of other over grown, wild vegetation. Jack and his Bots were deep in the mysterious valleys of some part of China that Jack couldn't pronounce. Not that he cared where he was exactly, he just wanted to get the magical Shen Gong Wu and get out of this place. It was sweltering and the ground was muddy from last night's downpour.

He yawned. It was far too early to be doing this.

'_But evil waits for no one,'_ He thought as he ducked under a low lying tree branch, _'Even if it means getting up at six in the morning on a weekend.'_

Jack was a tall, slim, and deathly pale sixteen year old. His face was thin, with a pair of dark brown, almost deep red eyes. Around them he had put on a thick layer of black eyeliner, with the left eye having a small spike coming down. His hair was a wild shock of red, untamed and uncombed. He had two rings in his right ear, and a piercing just beneath his lower lip. He wore his usual black pants, black combat boots, black trench coat, black fingerless gloves. The only things that weren't black were his goggles, which sat on his forehead, the strange orange spiral effect printed on the yellow tinted lenses. On his back was a dull brown metallic backpack, strapped on with a pair of brown straps which clipped together in the middle of his chest.

Around him, Jacks squad of yellowy-bronze coated hovering robots sawed, shot and blew up the ancient environment, making sure that a good enough path was being made for their creator to casually walk through.

Jack didn't really care for the noise effecting the natural environment or the pollution his robots were making or whatever the hell they would do to this forest.

He was tired, sweating, annoyed at being woken by that loud Shen Gong Wu alarm and right now part of him was wondering why the hell he was out here anyway when he would probably just get beaten up by the xiaolin losers and that stupid little dragon of theirs.

He closed his eyes and pressed a thumb and forefinger against his eye lids, sighing. But, if he was going to take over the world then he supposed this was what it was going to take.

He held up his wrist, looking at a watch he made himself. Not only did this watch tell the time, it gave small radar-like screen of where the Shen Gong Wu signal was being radiated from. It also could tune into the radio, store mp3s, play videos up to an hour long, even tune into any local digital TV stations.

Jack was thinking of marketing it the moment he became eighteen, that way he would get all the expenses and not his parents. Well, first he would take out the Shen Gong Wu detector; it wasn't like he could do with any more competition.

The little red blinking dot on the small screen showed that he was getting close. He looked up, his eyes narrowing against the sun that was poking through the early morning clouds.

Jack smiled. He seemed to have got here before the monks, which was surprising as usually they got to the Wu before he did.

Of course they could just be travelling above the clouds. Jack looked back down, going back to his tired expression. The moment he got back home, he was going back to bed for another few hours. Probably put on some early morning cartoons that he could watch as well.

He chuckled to himself. _'That's one thing I got that those monk jerks don't have. A wide screen TV and two hundred channels with surround sound.'_

He came up on a clearing, and his expression became serious, tense, alert. There was the Shen Gong Wu, on a tree branch that was conveniently set out like a small arm, holding the magic artifact up.

"Jack-Bots, surround the area and check for those annoying monks." The young teens' command came quick and sharp.

The robots automatically responded and Jack wasted no time in moving towards the object.

If he got this one it would be the first in months. Jack was just glad that Chase didn't go after the Wu, or Jack would never even get a look-in.

He slowed, the old sense of fear and anxiety creeping into his stomach. He looked around timidly, mostly up into the sky.

Nothing moved, only a small wind through the treetops, a few birds chirping. Somewhere in the forest the sound of a monkey howling could be heard.

"No monks detected, sir." The computerised voice of one of his Bots came from behind him. The confirmation comforted Jack.

"The weather up there must be bad if they're so late." Jack said with a growing grin.

He walked swiftly towards the object, and, with a final look around. He gleefully took the Wu in hand.

He fisted the air in triumph. "Yes! Another win for Jack Spicer evil genius!"

He turned onto one of his robots, stuck out his tongue and made his fist into a devil horn's sign.

The expressionless robot opened a small compartment and some confetti accompanied by an overblown guitar solo sound came out.

With his mood infinitely lifted he grinned again and looked at the new found item. The Shen Gong Wu was…unusual looking for a Wu. Most Shen Gong Wu were of deep blues, browns, reds, gold's. This was…black and white. It was shaped like an eye, except where the pupil would be there was just a hole. It was pretty flat, only a dip where the white in the eye would usually be, the metal outline was black.

Something about the Wu was creeping Jack out slightly, like the pupil-less eye was looking at him, staring unblinkingly into his mind.

For a second, the wind died down. Sounds became almost tinned and far away. Jack felt…strange. Like the world was almost melting away. For a moment, nothing was real. Everything seemed to brighten, shine with its own internal light. The ground beneath him blurred and the dewy grass began to melt into one hazy green mass.

"Jack Spicer!"

The cry brought Jack crashing back into the world. So much so that he actually snapped his head up and staggered back, dizzy. He looked around, things where still swimming slightly, but they soon slid back into focus. Things lost there shine, and Jack could feel the world around him again.

Sounds crashed back in around him, like they had just been on pause, most notably the all too familiar sound of a dragon landing a few feet away from him.

Jack hazily collected himself, and tried to look mean and threatening as he possibly could after that rather odd experience.

The monks jumped off the green dragon as he shrank back into his small form.

Omi, the only one who hadn't grown an inch in years, pointed a finger at Jack. "You will surrender that Shen Gong Wu before we make you surrender it for us!"

The Chinese monk was barley bigger then an eleven year old. He had a big round bald head with nine dots on his forehead and dark brown eyes. He wore the same traditional red monk robes, with the black laced cuffs and belt. His pants were black, as were his monk shoes and he had white socks.

Behind him was the tall, heavily built form of Clay. The teen had a classically chiselled western look about his face, and he had small, but bright blue eyes and blond hair that came over one eye. He was wearing his dark blue denim pants, cowboy boots, blue shirt, red paisley neckerchief and brown cowboy hat.

"Can we get this over with? I'm not used to getting up so early." Raimundo's tired, yawing voice reminded Jack how early in the morning it really was.

Raimundo stood at the side of Omi, scratching his back. He had thick brown hair and a pair of jade green eyes. His skin was slightly tanned and he was well built, but about an inch smaller then Jack. He was wearing a t-shirt with green for the sleeves and white for the body with an orange shirt underneath. He had on a pair of brown baggy pants and a pair of sneakers on his feet.

Jack inwardly sneered at Rai. If the guy was in high school, he'd be one of those popular sport jock types that Jack despised.

Standing to his side Kimiko rolled her eyes. Kimiko was the only girl in the team. She was slim and Japanese and had jet black hair, tied into two pony tails, and light blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of stylish brown boots, flared blue jeans and sleeveless top with a thick black line running over her mid-drift and a light red line running over and under it. She had light eyeliner on and bright pink lipstick.

She looked at Raimundo in a mock glare. "Yea, well we could have got here earlier if we didn't have to make that stop."

Rai shrugged and smiled. "Hey, I _really_ needed to go."

Jack hated Kimiko as well. An infinity ago Jack thought he had a crush on her, but that had long faded into hate. If she was in high school, she'd be the preppy cheerleader girlfriend of one of those sport jock types, probably Raimundo's. Jack wasn't sure about Omi or Clay, but he had spotted the looks Kimiko gave to Rai when she though no one important was watching.

The now much smaller dragon, Dojo, jumped in front of the team. "Yea, well, it doesn't matter now, we're here, so let's get that Shen Gong Wu."

Jack snarled and held the Wu away from the others. "Hey, I got here first, finders keepers."

Dojo's yellow eyes fell on the Wu and he gasped in surprised. The monks noticed that and Omi quickly asked. "What is it?"

Dojo pointed a claw towards the Wu. "That's the Third Eye of Zheng!"

Raimundo giggled at the name but was quickly shut up when Kimiko smacked the back of his head.

Dojo continued irregardless. "The Third Eye of Zheng is a very mysterious Wu. No ones really sure what it does, but it was once used on the first emperor of China, which is why it's named after him."

Kimiko tilted her head slightly and frowned at Dojo thoughtfully. "Wasn't he the one that went insane?"

Dojo nodded, "Yep. He died after trying to shoot invisible sea monsters on a shore somewhere, poor guy. Although, many say it was the balls of mercury he used to eat that drove him coo-coo. So we really don't know if it was the Wu or not."

Jack looked back at the eye with renewed interest, grinning madly. "So this thing drives people nuts? GREAT!"

Jack immediately turned it on the others and shouted its name, "Third Eye of Zheng!"

The middle of the Wu glowed a strange milky white before shooting a beam forward at the team.

The monks quickly dived out the path of the blast, and the others that were fired in their direction by a manically laughing Spicer.

Amidst his laughing Jack yelled out the phrase he'd been shouting for years. "Jack-Bots! Attack!"

The monks quickly adapted to the fight, after all, they had been doing this for years. It didn't take long for the Bots to be destroyed. Jack knew this would happen. He also knew that it was the better idea to cut and run.

He quickly darted into the forest as the last Jack-Bot hit the muddy, wet floor in a burning pile of metal.

He could hide in the forest and then use his heli-bot backpack to get home once he'd thrown off the others.

As Jack ran he heard the others shout his name behind him. They'd be after him and they wouldn't give up until they had the Wu. The teen knew he didn't have long until they caught up with him. He needed shelter fast.

His breathing became laboured as he pressed on faster. He held the Wu close to his chest and smashed his way through the undergrowth.

His heart beat painfully against his chest, his legs started to burn and his feet hurt. But he couldn't stop.

The shouting of the monks was getting closer. They'd be on him any second now.

Suddenly, his foot hit a small rock that was sticking jaggedly out the ground. Jack had been running so fast he hadn't seen it coming.

He fell, painfully, hitting the muddy floor with a hard smack. The Wu fell from his hands and plopped onto the floor ahead of him.

Jack looked up, not caring that he was now covered in mud, dead leaves and other forest debris.

"There he is!" Raimundo's shout came from the trees behind him.

Jack panicked and quickly crawled across the floor to grab the Wu. He turned onto his back and held the Wu out in front of him, pointing into the trees. With the cold metal of the Shen Gong Wu in his hands, Jack felt slightly better.

The monks dropped in a line a few feet from him.

"Look at him, on the ground like the darn snake he is." Clay growled in his southern accent drawl.

The monks glared hatefully down at Spicer and Jack sneered evilly back at them. "Come any closer and I'll drive you to the loony bin."

Raimundo stepped forward. "Hand it over, Jack, and we may spare you from a beating."

Jack grinned defiantly, even though inside he was shaking. "No."

Rai darted forward, but before he got to his enemy Jack shouted. "Third Eye of Zheng!"

Raimundo was too far in his strike to stop, and his eyes widened in fear as the centre of the Wu glowed that eerie milky white.

But the blast didn't come. Instead, it went the opposite way. Directly into Jack.

The teen was blasted across the floor, directly into a great oak that stood a few feet from him. A sickening crack was heard as some of Jacks bones were broken and the tree buckled and shook from the impact.

Rai stopped his strike where Jack Spicer _used_ to be and looked up with a mixture of shock, amusement, and perhaps some concern at the small curled form of Jack at the base of the tree.

The others also sheared Raimundo's expressions. Omi was the first to speak out. "Is Jack ok?"

Clay grinned and put his hands on his hips. "Well if he aint it's his own fault, the fool held the Wu the wrong way around and all."

Kimiko didn't smile. "Come on guys, he's not moving, this could be serious."

Raimundo turned on the others. "Are you crazy? That's Jack Spicer! He's our enemy!"

Omi nodded. "Yes, but he is not an enemy like Chase Young or Wuya"

This small sentence seemed to sum up the groups' collective feelings about Jack and together they walked towards him, rolling him over onto his side, after of course they took the Shen Gong Wu from his hand.

"Jack?" Kimiko asked softly, but loudly. "Jack? Can you hear me?"

Jack opened his eyes wearily. Someone was echoing his name…it was a girl…Kimiko. But he wasn't in the forest anymore. He looked around, his eyes widening at what he saw.

It was like he could still see the forest, but it was painted over his eyes. Behind it he could see…white. Padded dull white walls…and a cut out of a door. He saw the shadow of a tall figure looking down on him through a pair of glasses that shone with the same inner white light that he saw before.

Another voice echoed into his ears, but this one seemed…closer. It was the deep voice of a man and he sounded rather excited.

"Wait…look…he's reacting! Jack? Jack! Oh no…we're losing him…"

He closed his eyes shut and shook his head. The man's voice echoed away to nothing.

When he opened them again he saw semi-concerned monks looking down on him.

Kimiko raised an eyebrow as Jack groaned at the immense, yet somewhat familiar pain in his ribs and head.

"Hey, you ok?" Her voice sounded disdainful, like she didn't really care what the answer was.

Jack just nodded and held his ribcage tight. He'd probably have to take it easy for a few weeks now, even with the help of the one or two healing potions that he'd picked up from Wuya when she worked with him.

'_I knew it was too early for this.' _He thought, too winded and in pain to say his thought aloud. He closed his eyes and grimaced as sharp, dagger-like jabs of pain ripped through him.

"Well," Omi said happily, "Now we know you aren't dead, we'll be taking the Wu and be punching the dirty path."

Clay chuckled. "I think that's 'hitting the dusty trail' little buddy."

The monks walked of having no qualms about leaving Jack Spicer in agonizing pain in the middle of a random forest in deep China.

For about ten minutes after the monks left Jack lay curled up on the floor, too weak to even activate his hover-pack.

Eventually however he pulled himself upright to his feet and, breathing slowly and heavily, he activated his pack and started the slow journey home.

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"OW! Hey, watch it will you?" Jack growled at the Med-Bot that was currently wrapping a large white bandage around Jacks chest.

The teenager was sitting on a cold table without his top on letting one of his Med-Bots repair some of the damage that the blast, combined with the tree, had given him. He had got in a while back and had taken a hot, soothing shower before painfully making his way to the Med-Bot for treatment.

"Sorry, sir." It responded in that cold emotionless way that robots often do. Jack generally preferred the company of his metallic creations to real people. They didn't call him names or laugh at his failures. They supported him unquestioningly, treated him with respect and were ready to die at his command. Something that was rare amongst the free-thinking.

Jack sighed as the Bot wrapped the last of the bandage around him and moved back to let him go. Jack picked up his red top with the cut-off sleeves and put it on. He winced slightly as his ribs moved when he pulled the top down.

He hopped carefully off table and walked slowly over to his couch, easing himself down, trying to limit the pain.

The dull throb of his ribs reminded him that once again, he had lost. He wasn't sure if it was the painkillers or the continues loop of defeat getting to him, but he felt so tired and worn out that he didn't even feel like preparing to get the monks back.

'_Maybe I should just pack all this evil in and do something constructive with my life…' _He thought blankly.

He let his head fall back and he looked up, letting a small weary smile grace his lips. _'…Naaa. Where would be the fun in that?' _

He sighed, tensing at the pain it caused in his chest. His mind drifted to the incident. He couldn't believe he was stupid enough to hit himself with his own Wu.

Well, at least the whole 'power to drive you insane' thing didn't seem to be true. He wasn't climbing the walls chasing leprechauns or anything like that.

Suddenly however, his mind brought up the image he had seen when he had been coming round. The white padded walls, the shadow and the voice of that man.

Jack's eyes narrowed. What was that?

He shrugged with his eyebrows. "Probably just the concussion," He decided to himself.

His hand reached down the side of the couch for the remote. Pulling it out and brushing some fluff from it he smiled and switched his TV on.

"I think I deserve some cartoons."

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Like that, eh?

Well, there's some more in de can. And believe me, Jacks in for one hell of a ride.

So, the Wu is named after the actual first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (personal name of Zheng) who did indeed go mad and did indeed shoot invisible sea monsters in a lake.

Anyway, you guys may want to run his name into wikipedia, because he's gonna be mentioned again here, him and his would-be assassin Zhang Liang.

The fic's name is after a Door's song, Break On Through.

R&R if you please.


	2. Wake Up

Wow. I didn't think I'd get such a great response from you guys, especially since this is my first XS fic (but not my first fanfic)

But hey, I'm not complaining.

So, new chapter all filled with Chase and Wuya goodness that I know you peep's love. Oh, and it's also got an angsting Jack! Well…sorta angsting…whatever.

Anyways, big up to ma main man Spookybishop for doing the beta-editing thing. He rocks for it.

So, I own SWEET BUGGER ALL.

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Jack blinked slowly, sleepily almost.

The pain in his ribs had been reduced so he could move more easily, but he hadn't moved at all since he sat down on his old couch, apart from when he lay down, his head resting on one couch arm and his calves placed across the other side.

His arms rested across his chest, but they only caused a…comforting pain, a relaxing discomfort that is sometimes more preferable then pure ease. His hands lightly gripped his thin upper arms.

He had been watching TV all morning. Jack wasn't one to go back to sleep so easily after he had already woken up, so he had lain on his battered old couch watching mind-numbing and occasionally funny cartoons.

The Tylenol must have been a bit too strong though, as he could barely focus. He was fighting against falling asleep, which had been slowly increasing for the last hour.

He blinked again. The TV seemed to be quieter then before. The images on the screen seemed to be leaving…trails.

The edges of things were getting blurry, colours were starting to become thicker and lights seemed brighter.

Jack found he couldn't move, and suddenly a sense of panic began to seep into his pain-killer addled brain. .

He found he didn't have the focus or the energy to panic properly. But he could still be scared.

'_What the hell is happening? Has the Med-Bot give me too much Tylenol again?' _Jack thought as a sick feeling of fear began to creep into his aching belly.

The last time he had been lucky, he had managed to make himself sick enough to throw up the drugs and not die of some overdose. He wasn't suicidal after all.

But this time, he couldn't even move. He couldn't feel the world around him anymore. The couch he lay on, the clothes he wore, even the cracked ribs, they all faded from him.

He closed his eyes tight. And managed to drunkenly growl out, "Help…Jack Bots…help...anyone…please." His voice was barely a whisper, and it was croaky, like he hadn't used it in a while.

However, when he opened his eyes, expecting to see his beloved robotic guards rushing to his aid, he only saw white.

White was all around him, and for a moment, Jack thought he had died.

Then, shadows began to seep into the white, outlining shapes.

A wall…a padded white wall, a door, also padded. He eyes looked around the room dazedly.

Everything was padded, the floor, the roof and all the walls. And everything was white. The only light was a small grated window at the top of one of the walls.

Jack's eyes narrowed. What the hell was going on? Where was he? Why couldn't he move? Why didn't his clothes feel right or his couch feel the same…or even why his ribs weren't hurting anymore?

His eye's moved in and out of focus. As he slowly moved his head, he turned to his left, where the front cushion of his couch should be. But instead, there was a quickly forming shadow; the shadowy outline of the man with the bright reflective square glasses. However, he didn't seem to be alone this time; other shadowy figures stood beside him, by first guess, two women and another man.

He heard a voice echo; the man's voice. "Look, he's coming back to us. Who's taking notes?"

One of the figures beside him began writing on the shadowy outline of a clipboard.

The shadow of the man moved towards him. He stretched out a hand. "Jack? Jack can you hear me? Jack?"

Jack's focus began to fade again. The white began to grow hazy and all definition was being lost. The outlines of the shadows were growing blurry.

The man's voice shouted out, "NO! Jack? Jack! Try and stay with us, please!"

Jack's eyes widened as the shadows on the walls began to melt. They ran down the white like paint, and pooled around the white floor. Then, the pools began to slowly move towards him.

He tried to scream, to move, to get away from all these people and the shadows that where begging to gain speed and size as they snaked towards their target.

He couldn't move; his wrists and ankles where strapped down. He couldn't scream; his voice box was too hoarse.

He felt so weak…

The shadows were coming, and his old fear of the dark was rearing its ugly head again. He panicked more, fighting weakly against the restraints.

The man shouted something about sedatives. Jack couldn't really tell, the man's voice sounded distant and distorted. The white world was fading as the shadows began to swallow it. The shadows had reached Jack's feet. Jack couldn't breathe through fear. The shadow's touch was so cold, like death.

It crept across him, towards his face. Tears of fear rolled down his cheeks and he was desperately straining to get away. The freezing cold shadow reached up, across his chest, up to his neck.

His body was now numb, dead.

The shadow reached across his neck, up his chin, and teetered on the edge of his lips. Then, after circling his open mouth, it dropped down into it.

Jack screamed, louder then he'd ever screamed in his life as the dead cold filled his body. He was fading…fading…until…

He shot up, still screaming.

His eyes darted around his basement room and he jumped to have one leg one the couch and one leg off. His left hand gripped the top of the couch so tight it hurt while his right was raised up to his chest, as if in some act of self defence. His body was soaked in sweat, and his ribs hurt like they'd just been given a swift kick, but he didn't care. He took in big breathes and shook like a leaf in the wind. All he wanted was to get away from that shadow and its deathly cold touch.

It took him a moment before he realised he was on his couch. A number of robots rushed over to their master, eager to protect him.

"Sir? Sir what is wrong?" One of them said. Jack didn't know which, they all sounded the same.

He blinked; his eyes hurt. His breathing slowed and he eased himself slowly onto the couch again. He sat down and placed his elbows on his legs and his head in his hands. His body was still quivering with fear.

"Nothing Jack-Bots," He said, his voice shaking slightly, "It was just a…nightmare."

The mech's looked at each other, a curious bit of programming but nevertheless it made something comfortingly human about them.

They turned back to their master and one of them spoke again. "Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes…" Jack said his throat and lungs hurt from screaming so much. Not to mention his ribs throbbed with pain from straining them so much in such a little amount time.

"Affirmative then. Resuming perimeter patrol, danger level reset to def con 1," They ringed out in that monotone robotic way of theirs.

They flew off leaving Jack to sit, alone and silent, contemplating his dream.

'_What the hell…was that…'_ He silently asked himself. _'I've never had a dream like that before. It felt so…real…'_

He looked up slightly and ran his hands through his wild red hair. He had stopped shaking now, he had calmed down, although his stomach still felt queasy.

"Damn…I'm gonna take a shower." He mumbled to himself.

----

Jack reached for a packet of raman instant noodles, opened them lazily, and poured them into a pan.

"Computer, activate media player and put on file 14, Nine Inch Heels." Jack said shaking the last of the noodles into the pan. The loud sound of heavy metal filled the large basement and Jack sighed wearily as he turned on the stove to boil his raman.

His body seemed to have gotten used to the ache in his ribs, either that or his mind had just stopped registering it.

It was so strange what the mind could do. Jack wasn't sure where he'd learned about it, but the mind could make you ignore almost anything. Like clothes for example. You never really feel your clothes on you during the day. You forget you're wearing them. This went for other things as well, like make-up, jewellery, earrings etc.

Jack had times where he had thought about this, usually when watching his DVD's of those weird cyber-punk anime films he collected. If your brain could make you forget about the clothes you wore, could it make you forget the world around you? When you dream, you forget the duvet covering you, the pillow beneath your head. Your mind cuts them out and replaces them with a completely different surrounding. It makes you feel things that aren't there, see things with closed eyes, hear things from the echoes of your mind.

Jack shook his head and blinked in surprise as the hiss of water boiling over the pan brought him back from his wonderings. He was being unusually philosophical today, but he had an excuse. That dream had something off in his mind, and he couldn't shake it off.

It was so…weird. He had had very vivid dreams before, nightmares when he was younger, things like that. But never before had he felt something so…_real_. He could have almost reached out and _touched_ the world around him in that dream. It wasn't like that room was only one part of a dream; it felt like it had been part of a living breathing _world_.

Jack sieved his noodles before pouring them into a bowl and grabbing a clean-ish looking fork and wiped it on his shirt as he walked back over to his couch. He sat down heavily, provoking a wince-inducing shot of pain from his ribs, but nothing more.

He started to eat his noodles as he began to plan out a sneak attack on the monks in his mind.

He didn't know what he wanted to do, but he knew that he wanted to get the monks back for the morning. He had been defeated, humiliated, and he was going to take that out on the monks somehow.

His eyes narrowed slightly. _'Maybe if I used the Eye of Dashi and the Glove of Jisaku to make some sort of giant Wu attracting magnet of some kind…But I would need the Ruby of Ramses to tell the magnet what to bring…'_

That's where the problem lay. He knew the first two Shen Gong Wu where, in the monk's vault. Getting them wouldn't be all that hard if he snuck in and stole them. Stealing Wu from the vault was far easier then actually battling for them, in fact, he wondered why he didn't just steal from the monks more often.

However, the Ruby would be the main problem; it was in the hands of Chase Young.

Jack's eyes narrowed in anger at the thought of that big-headed know-it-all jerk. He couldn't believe he once kissed the ground that asshole walked on.

He wasn't sure what point, or moment, or event it was that made Jack realise that Chase was a false idol, but somewhere in the last few years Jack had realised the truth about Chase.

Now Jack hated him. He didn't hate him like he hated the monks. That was a more…competitive hate. They fought because of the Wu, but they were both prepared to work together when needed, as they had on the odd occasion. For the last two Christmases they had even sent him a collectively signed Christmas card. Jack had, of course, humorously replied with one of his own.

However, with Chase it was different. He would stomp over any plan Jack, or anyone else for that matter, would cook up, just to get his own way. He would use Jack, or anyone for that matter, like a puppet for his own ends. Jack hated Chase because, at the end of the day, Chase was a through-and-through bully.

The only person, or thing, which Jack had ever seen stand up to Chase was Hannibal Roy Bean, and so Bean was now the guy Jack admired the most. Unfortunately, Bean worked alone, and no one ever knew where he went. So any chance of an alliance was hopeless.

Chase and Wuya, that complete kiss-ass backboneless bitch, deserved each other. Jack didn't know what they did up in that cave Chase lived in, but Jack was also sure that he couldn't care less.

He sighed. But if he wanted the Ruby of Ramses he would have to go beg Chase for it. What made it worse was that Chase was no stranger to Jack's utter abhorrence of him, so that would mean Jack having to give up something to get the Ruby, as well as doing some _very_ serious begging.

The boy brought a fork full of noodles into his mouth and he chewed on them thoughtfully as he wondered what Wu he had that Chase may be interested in.

Suddenly, there was a very loud knocking sound on the metal entrance of Jacks basement, echoing metallically over the music and causing Jack to jump and turn his head, some noodles still hanging from his mouth.

The knocking got louder and more impatient and Jack swallowed the noodles, placing the remainder on the floor.

Jack hurried over to the steps that led up to the metal doors, they on a slant, so he had to push upwards to open them, after of course he removed the locks and the bolt.

With so many enemies about one could never be too careful, but by the alarm's not going off, he knew that they must be friendlies, so he wasn't worried about not checking who it was.

The moment the doors opened Jack squinted in the afternoon light, trying to get his eyes to adjust. Two tall shadowed silhouettes of two very familiar adults stood looking down at him. The moment his eyes adjusted he saw who it was, and his expression changed to a low, annoyed growl.

"Oh. It's you two."

The taller of the two was a tall, strong and mean-looking twenty something looking man with very light Asian skin and looks, except from the pointed ears. He had long black hair that fell over his shoulders and yellow, cat-like eyes. He was wearing what looked to be a yellow and black metallic amour which covered his chest and back and red sash around his middle, with a yellow cat eye on it, which held up his hip armour. He had a pair of big metal shoulder pads which were yellow and red and a pair of wrist guards, also yellow, and a pair of brown gloves. He had black martial-art pants and a pair of old looking black boots with yellow shin-ankle guards.

This was Chase Young. Terror of the world, master of martial arts, probably the most dangerous being on the planet, well, that depended on whose opinion you asked.

Next to him was a woman who looked to be in her middle thirties because of the good shape she seemed to be in, but was probably older. She had tanned skin, pointed ears, deep green eyes with long eyelashes and makeup under her them to make three lines under each eye, almost like a more advanced version of Jack's makeup. She had long, lustrous dark red hair with lighter red highlights. She wore a traditional black coloured Chinese dress with purple on the neck, wrists and hem and she had a red sash around the middle with a black 'X' in the centre. On her feet she had a pair of simple black heels.

This was Wuya. The witch, who had almost conquered the world some one and half thousand years ago, stopped only by the very best of the Xaiolin warriors, one of them being Chase Young himself.

Chase smiled wickedly. "Now, now Jack. Is that the proper way to greet your Heylin comrades?"

Jack crossed his arms. "Whaddya want?"

Wuya echoed Chase's smile. "We need some of your Wu. So we're here to get them."

Jack saw an opening for getting the Ruby. "Alright, what are you going to offer me for them?"

Chase's smile didn't drop. "We didn't say we were trading anything, we said we were here to get the Wu."

Jack's face dropped. "What?"

The next thing he felt was Chase's fist in his stomach. The wind was instantly knocked out of him and he collapsed onto the stairs. Pain exploded within him once again and he curled into a ball, wrapping his arms around his stomach and closing his eyes tight.

He heard Chase and Wuya casually walk past him, like nothing was wrong.

God he hated them so much, even more then the monks.

He heard his Jack-Bots go into automatic defence mode. He heard Chase and Wuya dispose of them instantly.

He pulled himself towards the nearest wall and sat himself up. He opened his eyes and watched as Chase ripped apart the Shen Gong Wu safe that Jack had painstakingly designed to be completely un-crackable to anyone but him. He hadn't wagered on anyone just tearing the thing apart.

He heard Wuya comment on the music that was still playing and Chase laugh.

'_Is everything in my life a complete joke to them?'_ Jack wondered as he glared daggers at them.

Once Chase had gotten everything he wanted, reducing Jack to grand total of zero Wu, they began to walk back towards Jack, who could do nothing but glare at the two.

Chase laughed as he and Wuya climbed the steps out of the base. He stopped and looked down on Jack like he was some little helpless child.

"Thanks for letting us have your Wu Jack; it was _really_ nice of you," He laughed.

"You complete _bastard_…" Jack gritted out.

Chase just laughed evilly again and walked on out of the basement.

Usually Jack would have let them go; after all, he was now completely defeated and if he tried to stop them he would probably be put in more pain than usual.

However, something inside him snapped, and he decided that he wouldn't let them go.

"What's the matter Chase?" Jack shouted at them as he lifted himself to his feet using the wall as something to lean on. "Can't get the Wu on your own? Or are you just to _scared_ to fight the monks?"

Chase stopped dead in his tracks. Wuya spun around, pure shock written on her face, as if she really couldn't believe that Jack had just said that.

Chase however, didn't move, his back was still to Jack but the quiet anger in his voice was unmistakable. "_What?_"

"You heard asshole," Jack called as he stepped shakily out of the basement door. His mind was screaming for him to shut up, to run away and hide, just like he always did. But something deeper inside him was awake, and it was screaming louder then his mind was. It was sick of being the loser, sick of being the laughing stock of the Heylin side, sick of the constant humiliation of having to bow to Chase Young and his side-bitch Wuya.

"You're a pathetic excuse for a human Chase. You bully and push and hurt everyone around you just so you can get your own way. Until now I've just taken it as fact but guess what," Jack clenched his fists, shaking no longer from pain, but from pure rage, "I'm _sick_ to fucking _death_ of you and your _shit_, and I'm not gonna take it anymore."

Chase turned around, baring his teeth threateningly in a furious growl and his eye twitching in anger. "You'd be wise to watch your words Spicer, or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Jack cut in, drawing a gasp from Wuya and even catching Chase off guard. "Hurt me? Beat me up? That's all you've got Chase, and guess what, I don't care. You can beat me into a coma and I'll still not fear you."

Chase stepped forward, "I'm going to-"

"Kill me?" Jack interrupted again, smiling in rebellious joy. He knew he was probably going to die now, but the thrill was he couldn't care less. "Do it, you'll be doing me a favour, I'd rather _die_ then live as your pawn any longer."

Chase suddenly found himself without any cards to play. He always got his own way one way or another. He always expected his pawns to do as their told and put up with it or face his wrath. He hadn't expected this to happen, _especially_ not from _Jack Spicer_ of all people.

He decided that this didn't matter. Jack meant next to nothing, and posed a laughable threat at best. He could easily lose him and still continue efficiently in his world domination efforts, in fact, it would probably be _more_ efficient.

Jack growled at Chase, all worry for his personal health had been thrown out the window. Softly, above the sound of his own rapidly beating heart or the blood pumping through his ears, he could hear a voice calling.

It sounded so far away, yet, so close. _'Jack…Jack…'_ It felt like it had been calling him all his life, somewhere in the background, or maybe somewhere inside him. Inside his head perhaps, and for the first time, Jack was listening.

'_Wake up Jack…' _

Chase moved towards him, snarling like an angry beast. The first punch landed across his face, breaking his nose and sending a mass of pain and blood across his face, making his eyes tear against Jack's own will. But Jack didn't fall; he held his feet, if staggering back a few paces. Jack surprised himself in this feat. He never thought he could withstand a punch of Chase.

'_Fight them…fight your fears…'_

The second punch landed into the centre of his chest, cracking more of his ribs. Jack could feel the hot blood fall down his face. He could taste the metallic, warm liquid across his lips. Jack collapsed back onto one knee, unable to stop himself as a painful, but warm feeling exploded in his insides. He could tell he was bleeding internally, he was going to die if Chase hit him again.

'_You can beat them …'_

Jack lifted himself back up onto his feet. In the background he could hear Wuya asking Chase to stop it. He was killing him. He heard Chase ordering her to shut up or she'd suffer the same fate. She didn't say anything else.

The moment Jack was back on his feet Chase delivered a strong punch to his stomach, causing Jack to collapse onto his knees, doubling over. His vision was waving, he could see white and black and the red of his own blood, so he closed his eyes. He coughed, hurting his ribs. He opened his bleary eyes again to see a splatter of blood on the ground. His blood.

'_You're stronger then they are…' _

Chase was walking away, believing himself to have proven his point. He turned, and to his shock, and maybe even deep inside, his horror, Jack climbing once again to his feet.

Jack looked at Chase with his one good eye. His face was a bloody mess, his smile was insane, but his eyes still remained defiant. Jack was laughing, because Chase still hadn't beaten him. Jack was winning. It was that fact that Chase realised as he looked at Jack. This had never happened to him before, _ever_. Chase decided to end this now. Permanently.

He turned and roared at Jack, rushing towards him.

'_Wake up Jack…'_

Jack didn't feel the punch connect to his face. He had already gone past the stage of pain. He was actually feeling quite the opposite. He felt relieved, lighter, free.

The world moved around him and he found himself looking up at the sky. He realised he must now be lying on the ground. He could feel blood across his face, and the bones inside him telling him they where broken. He could feel the cool earth. He could feel the light breeze. He could hear the music in his basement playing in the background.

But they all seemed to very far away.

The world around him changed, it became whiter, almost blindingly white. The blue sky faded and was replaced by a white padded room.

Then that voice came again, closer then ever. So close it could have been at the side of him. In fact, Jack was sure it was.

"Welcome back, Jack. You've finally woken up."

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Please forgive me, I'm going though a 'cliffhanger' stage in my writing.

Come on, we've all been there.

Anyways, yep, Jack being all OOC and stuff here, angsting away and fighting Chase and stuff…but its all explained. Kinda. In a head-mess way.

Rambo 2 is on TV!

Next chapter has alt-reality goodness! But it is much shorter then this EPIC chapter…of EPICness

Anyways, Read and Review my droogies..


	3. Truthful Lies?

WOW! An update! From me!

Yea, sorry about the long update time. Both me and me beta reader Spookybishop had a lot of things on. So please, forgive us! OH GOD PLEASE! AGGGHHH!

Ahem…yes.

So, we FINALLY get to this chapter. The chapter were the line between which reality is real begins to _really_ blur.

I own nothing cept my OC, but he's not really much of an OC…

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Sunlight streamed through the small window. It was a sunny, clear day, and outside Jack could hear birds singing. His vision was still blurry, so all the colours mixed together like a runny water painting.

It was a nice feeling, here on this peaceful bed, the world still gaining focus around him. He could even ignore the birdsong, as one of his pet annoyances was birdsong. In fact, Jack found nature was annoying in general.

As he gained some sense of being, he felt that he was lying on a soft bed with comfy pillows and a warm duvet pulled over him. He felt like he had been sleeping for a thousand years and was only now just waking up.

He blinked and moaned, trying to pull himself into a sitting position, but he felt so weak that he could hardly move.

"Don't try and move Jack, just relax for now." The deep voice of a man came from his right, and so Jack, too drowsy to feel surprise, lolled his head in the direction.

The familiar black silhouetted outline of a man sat, contrasting against the white. But, as his eyesight improved, the figure became more defined. He began to pick out clothes, pants, a shirt, a big doctors coat.

"You may find it a bit hard to look at things, so just let your eyes adjust for a moment." The man's voice came again.

Jack screwed up his eyes in a strong blink before looking back to the man. Colour was now being added, fading in like a developing photo. He was wearing a white coat, brown pants and a light red shirt with a pocket holing three different colour pens and a pencil. Jack couldn't see his shoes as the man was sitting close to the bedside.

Jack's eyes narrowed and widened as his face came into view. The man was Caucasian, he had grey-black hair, brown eyes held behind think black rimmed glasses. He had a trimmed, smart looking goatee and he looked old, in his fifties probably.

In one hand he held a clipboard which rested on his crossed legs, and a pen in the other hand.

Jack looked down at himself and saw that he was wearing a white hospital t-shirt, he felt like he had no socks or shoes on, nor did he have his goggles.

The Doctor smiled warmly at Jack as he saw that the boy's vision was clearing. "Good, you're progressing well."

Jack tried to ask what was going on, but his throat hurt and his voice was too croaky to properly form any words.

The man held up a hand and stopped him. "Don't try and talk, your voice-box hasn't been used in a while, so just nod or shake your head to communicate ok? And don't worry; it should quickly repair itself with some practice."

Jack nodded and the man smiled. "Well. My name is Doctor Morrison. Jack, do you know where you are?"

Jack shook his head.

The Doctor took a deep breath, as if steadying himself. "You're in the Sid Barrett Mental Institution. You've been here for four years and for most of those years you've been in a catatonic state, locked in your own private world, your own wonderland. Do you understand?"

Jack felt a cold shiver run down his spine. This was impossible! He'd been walking around only yesterday! Today even! He had _felt_ the pain of being hit by that tree, and by Chase. He had _tasted_ those Raman noodles. He had _felt_ the heat and the water of those showers.

This must be some insane, vivid dream. Yes, that had to be the case. All the other times he'd seen this room or this man they had been in his dreams, so it only made sense that Chase must have knocked him unconscious and this was a dream.

"Not true." Jack croaked out. Damn that hurt his throat. He closed his eyes. _'No it didn't hurt, this is just a dream. WAKE UP JACK!'_

The Doctor shook his head slowly. "I expected this." And he noted something down on his clipboard.

Jack didn't open his eyes; he was trying to force himself awake. The Doctor reached out and touched Jacks shoulder, trying to comfort him. The teen felt a sudden rush of repulsion with him and he drew away violently, holding himself by the shoulders. He scrambled backwards off the bed, falling onto soft floor and ignoring the feel of padded carpet, _'It's not real, It's only a dream, wake up you moron, wake up!'_ and he scrambled into the corner, curling up there and staring at the man, who looked back at him sadly.

Dr Morrison sighed and stood up, walking around the bed towards Jack, but stopping at the foot of the bed. Jack noticed he had smart black shoes on.

The Doctor sat on the end of the bed and looked at Jack. "Jack, I know it's hard for you to accept, but this _is_ the truth."

Jack shook his head rapidly. He felt ill inside. _'No! It's a lie! A nightmare! Ignore him Jack!'_

The Doctor continued. "You were found a few years ago, when you were twelve. You had been greatly abused by your farther, who also abused your schizophrenic mother. He made you feel worthless, took anything you had away from you, even beat you violently."

"Lies…" Jack croaked out, closing his eyes and turning away.

"Your mother couldn't help you because she was ill. To cope with the abuse your mind starting switching off, sending you in a different world of your own creation where you could escape your fear of the world around you. However, the more abuse you suffered the more you became dependent on your 'wonderland'."

Jack shook his head again. It was lies, this was all a sort of twisted nightmare where he wasn't attacked by monsters or demons, just told horrible lies and made to feel terrible.

"It's all true Jack," The Doctor said calmly, "By the time you came to us you had practically come to live in your mind. Sometimes you showed signs of awareness, but most of the time you didn't respond. We had almost given up hope on you, but then we learned of a new drug treatment and, combining that with a new subliminal message treatment, we started to reach your subconscious and began to influence your thoughts to encourage you to fight your fears."

Jack looked up. "Fears?"

The Doctor smiled. "Yes. You see, even though you created this world to escape your abuse, your fears were still present; they were just hidden by things you made to represent them."

He leaned forward on the bed. "Tell me Jack, is there any single dominating being in your world that is feared by all, perhaps a ruler of a kingdom or-"

"Chase Young." Jack said looking wide-eyed at the floor. Maybe this wasn't a nightmare; maybe it was one of those dreams that tell you things about your life.

The doctor quickly noted down the name. "Tell me about this 'Chase Young'. Is he very powerful?"

Jack nodded.

"How so? With magic or…?"

"Martial arts." Jack said slowly, his voice was hurting less now.

The Doctor frowned in thought, "Interesting…" He nodded and mumbled some things while noting down more.

Jack began to have an odd feeling, like he was falling asleep yet, waking up at the same time. He shook his head, brushing it off, but it lingered in the back of his mind, like it was building up a force to strike again.

Dr Morrison looked back to the teen. "And I'm guessing that he has a female companion. Someone who is perhaps…a witch? They may have tried helped you when you were younger, as your mother did before she became too…unwell. "

Jack was amazed. "How did you know that?" He managed to painfully say. Then he reminded himself that this was just a dream, so the guy was bound to know. Jack felt that odd feeling again, and when the man spoke, he seemed just that bit further away.

"Simple psychology, my boy." He said with a warm smile. However, he seemed to notice the sleepy look on Jacks face, and his smile dropped. "Jack? What's the matter?"

Jack blinked sleepily as he battled fruitlessly against this strange sleep/wake feeling.

The Doctor stood up and moved swiftly towards Jack, clearly worried about him. "Jack, listen to me, your mind will try and give you something to make you feel better about yourself, you must _not_ take it. It may be hard but you must not let your mind lull you into its security! Jack? Jack!..."

The Doctors voice had been getting further and further every second. Jack blinked once… the colours had been fading…the picture's sharpness had gone, making all things blurry.

Jack blinked again; now something had appeared making the padded room seem like a poor shadow over a better picture. Jack could just make out the Doctor moving out the room.

He blinked again and the shadow of the room and the Doctor…had gone. Now he was in a new room. This one looked like some old hospital room. The bed was made solely out of blankets, but it was comforting enough. Pain was throbbing through him. His face, chest and body in general felt like it had been hit by a truck, or perhaps, Chase Young.

He looked around weakly. He was in the medical wing of the Xiaolin Temple. He chuckled, it seemed he'd survived Chase's wrath.

The building was obviously ancient, but it had a few modern appliances to it. Like the drip in Jack's arm and the little beeping machines telling how his health was. Outside the sound of birds could be singing, reminding Jack that once again he hated nature. He wasn't wearing a top, but he still had his black pants on, and he could spy the rest of his clothes in a neat pile at the end of the bed. Around his chest and around his face over his nose, were bandages. At the side of him, next to the nearest wall, was a plant-pot with a large bonsai tree growing from it.

He was in agony, his body moaned and groaned at every movement Jack made. But inside, in his mind, in his heart, Jack felt free.

He had finally proven that he wasn't a loser, he was stronger than others said he was. He had rebelled against Chase Young and come out still breathing.

Jack didn't know how this would affect the others still under Chase's command, but he was sure that they probably thought he was dead by now.

No one would mourn him, or probably even care. They'd probably joke about it. Jack didn't care though, because he was now free of the tyrant. He was like Roy Bean, a man on the move, and just sick enough to be _totally_ confident.

Jack realised that he could now do anything he wanted. He could work for anyone, even the good guys. He didn't have to take into account what Chase or Wuya or anyone else wanted to try that week.

Jack let a huge grin grow on his face as he thought of all this, he even laughed softly, despite his body painfully reacting to it.

The door at the end of the room suddenly began to creep open and Jack eyes widened. If he was in the Xiaolin temple, then that meant…

The door opened as a whistling Omi walked happily into the room carrying a tray with a bowl of what looked like deep green soup.

Omi stopped whistling as he saw that Jack was awake and instead he smiled. "Good morning, Jack Spicer."

Jack was slightly weirded out by Omi's joy at seeing him, as usually it was all glares and threats, but decided that he might as well keep silent if he was to remain getting medical care.

Omi closed the door with a foot and walked over to set the tray at the side of Jack's pillow and sitting on his knees on the floor. The monk smiled. "How are you feeling today?"

Jack looked around. "Erm, not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but why am I here?"

"Oh, we found you outside your home knocked out cold," Omi stated simply, "You've been here for a week."

Jack's eye's widened in surprise. "A week?"

The monk nodded, "It seemed like you'd taken quite a beating. Had we gotten there any later you probably would have died."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "How did you know where I was?"

Omi grinned almost apologetically. "Well…we keep watch on all our enemies. We checked up on you and you were lying outside your home in a pool of blood, so we went to help you immediately."

"Oh, thanks." Jack decided not to mention that he also kept one…or five robotic bird spies around the temple.

"Care to explain why you where in a pool of your own blood?" Omi said, raising his eyebrows at Jack.

Jack slowly wrapped his hands around his chest. "Well, let's just say that Chase sure can pack a punch."

Omi's eyes widened. "Chase Young did this too you? Why?"

Jack couldn't stop a grin appearing on his face. "I called him a coward and a bully and told him I didn't want to be one of his henchmen anymore."

Omi's jaw almost hit the floor. "You told Chase Young _that_!?"

"Sure did," Jack had to try hard not to laugh at Omi's face because he knew it would hurt too much if he did, "He didn't take it too well."

Omi scratched the back of his big bald head and looked at Jack as if seeing him for the first time. "Wow…I never thought _you_ of all people would say that to Chase Young."

Jack felt a small snap of annoyance within him. "Why not?" He was surprised with how angry that had sounded.

Omi however didn't seem to pick up on it, or if he did he hid it well. "Well, it's just, _you_, isn't it? You're Jack Spicer; you've never done _anything_ like this before."

Jack lowered his head and looked away from Omi, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I…guess not…"

'_Baldy's got a point, what the **hell** has gotten into you lately? You're shouting at Chase Young, having dreams where you're in an asylum, and now you're snapping at people trying to help you…'_ Jack wondered to himself. _'Is it to do with that Wu…or is it something else?'_

"Anyway," Omi said, bringing Jack out of his thoughts, "I brought you this." And he held up the soup.

Jack wrinkled his nose at the terrible smell. "What the sweet chocolaty hell is that?"

Omi cocked his head slightly. "What is this 'sweet chocolaty hell'? And this is a healing soup; we use them all the time here. Drink it and you'll be back on your feet in no-time."

Jack pushed the soup away gingerly, his arm hurt. "No thanks, I'll just heal on my own."

Omi chuckled and offered it again. "It smells bad, and it tastes bad, but it is good for you."

Jack reluctantly took it and looked at it. It looked…_nasty_. Like someone had thrown up in a bowl and boiled it. He sighed. If he wanted to get better so he could get back home then he supposed this would be what it took.

He raised the bowl, biting his lip at the pain, to his mouth and tried not to vomit at the strong smell.

Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind. Like a whisper from an old memory or some such poetic nonsense. _'Your mind will try and give you something, probably in the form of medicine; you must not take it…' _

Jack frowned at himself. That had just been a stupid dream. It meant nothing. But still, he had a sudden rush of distrust for the soup. He could almost feel the pressure of Omi's offer on him. The monks could have put anything in this, never mind what that dream had told him. He looked at Omi, who sat smiling at him and Jack narrowed his eyes. The monk's were never _ever_ nice to him. So they must be planning something.  
Jack looked back to the soup. _'Well, I'm not going to fall for it. I'm Jack Spicer, evil genius. They can't out-smart me.' _

Jack put the bowl down and gave a false smile. "That's okay, I'll drink it later. I think I'll just sleep for a bit more first."

"But, but…" Omi stated slowly.

"Yup, some sleep is what I need." And Jack gave a big fake yawn.

Omi may be a great fighter, but he was still amazingly gullible. The monk stood up. "Well, ok then. I'll leave the soup here so you can drink it later."

Jack made to look like he was lying down to sleep as Omi walked out the room. He waved at Jack from the door and gave another fake yawn.

The moment Omi left Jack grabbed the soup and, painfully he crawled over to the plant-pot. He poured the soup into the plant, watching it sink into the soil.

Jack grinned evilly as he crawled back to his bed. "They think they can trick me, ha, I'm Jack Spicer. I survived Chase Young's wrath. They'll soon learn what I'm gonna unleash on them."

He lay down and winced in pain. "As soon as I get better," He paused and thought for a moment, "And as soon as I can think of something to do to them."

And at that, he shuffled deeper into his bed and drew the blanket up to his chin, finally, for once in a long time, drifting into an uneventful and dreamless sleep.

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LIKE THAT?

Yea…you know you did…

Anyways, SO! Next chapter is…the philosophical chapter. Heh, I always have at least 1 philosophical chapter in all my fic's.

So, please, R&R and make me happy! Happy like a little chubby child with chocolate.


	4. And The Colours Start to Mix

SO SORRY!

I know, I know, it's been ages. A pointlessly long time since my last update, but I have a valid time and tested excuse.

Writers block. Eat me.

I knew what I wanted to do, but I couldn't think of the words to translate my vision into. It was pure evil I tells ya.

Anyways, I'm back in black, I hit the sack, aint you glad I'm glad to be back?

Anyways, I own nothing here.

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The sun was shining down upon the Xiaolin temple. The ancient Chinese structure was clearly in its element, basking in all the glory of a summer's day in the high mountains of ancient mythical China.

Birds sang in the tree's that dotted around the temple grounds, butterflies drifted and fluttered lazily across the temple ground, brushing the plants that grew in the small Zen gardens. The koi fish swam gracefully in the Zen garden pond, moving with a poise and elegance that only koi really can move in. Even one or two mice darted across the ground into the safety of the cracks in the old temple's walls.

And through an open window in one of these walls, lay Jack Spicer, evil genius and hater of all this natural beauty.

For last five days Jack had lain in the hospital ward of the Xiaolin temple. Most of his bandages had been removed now with only the main one across his chest remaining. He had poured away every drink of healing soup that the monks offered to him. He didn't trust them as far as he could throw them, and he knew the feeling was mutual. Every time one of the monks came to deliver any food they would glair and growl at him. They never said a word to him, and Jack was fine with not saying a word back.

Only Omi ever treated him humanely, but even then Omi still had a slightly tense air about him, like he suspected that at any moment Jack would try to assault him.

Jack was surprised. These monks could beat him in seconds, and considering the fact he was incredibly injured, them being paranoid of him was a humorous turn of events.

Of course they had all rights to be paranoid.

Jack had been slowly thinking about how best to take advantage of this situation. He could wait until they all left to get new Shen Gong Wu so he could rob the vault. He could call in his Jack-Bots and have them make a sneak attack on the base, well, that's if he had any left. He could do lots of things to the monks, but for some reason he didn't want to do anything to them.

Jack was evil, a maniacal genius who wanted to take over the world and enslave all people into his evil empire….of evil.

But he just didn't feel like doing anything to the monks…well, at least for now. He considered that he owed them for helping him, even if they did hate him and vice-versa. By helping him, they had portrayed a degree of honour that even Jack couldn't betray.

While he was in the ward, it seemed like Chase was once again trying to take over the world, and a lot of the time it seemed like the monks where busy off fighting him somewhere.

Whenever they left to go fight evil, the temple became oddly, almost eerily silent. Jack would sit, alone in his ward listening to the sounds of the ancient temple around him.

Some people would call it relaxing, spiritual and enlightening. Jack called those people jobless hippies.

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes, placing his hands behind his head. "Man this place sucks."

He chuckled, that sentence summing up everything about the temple. God he missed his filthy, dank basement with its surround sound, HD-TV, two hundred channels, best computer money can buy and an endless supply of junk food and noodles.

Ok, so he didn't see his parents much…Jack suddenly frowned. In fact, Jack couldn't remember when he'd last seen his parents.

He frowned harder as he tried to conjure a mental image. _'What the hell do they even look like?' _

He found it rather worrying that he couldn't even remember their faces.

He shrugged. He had stopped caring about them ages ago. It wasn't that he didn't love them; he just didn't care about them. They lived their lives and Jack lived his, that was how it went and that's how it would always go.

People say you can't live without parents, well, Jack considered himself living proof that you could. And anyway, he was an evil genius, he didn't need his parents.

Jack was suddenly distracted by a growling in his stomach. He took a deep breath and placed his hands on his growling belly.

"Damn those monks and their rabbit foot." While Jack had not been drinking the healing soup, he still ate the meals they gave him.

However, the monks seemed to live on a primarily vegetarian diet with the exception of fish, and Jack hated it. He needed a burger, fries, chicken, some meat of some kind please! He didn't care that it was unhealthy, it was tastier then this constant supply of fruit and salad.

Jack sat up, wincing slightly at the pain, but at least it was less than it was before. Healing soup or not, Jack was still getting better. In fact, Jack was surprised at the rate his body was healing. Last time he had taken a beating that was only half that Chase's was he'd spent a month in the hospital. He'd only been here twelve days and he was pretty much ready to walk around.

'_In fact, I think that's just what I'm gonna do.'_ Jack thought, his eyes narrowing in concentration.

Slowly, carefully, he lifted himself onto his feet. At first it hurt, but he found that the pain was quickly fading into nothing but a small tired ache.

He stretched his limbs, flexing his arms and shoulders. He then rotated his head, listening to the small cracking sounds of whatever that was cracking, the same happening when he cracked his fingers.

He breathed out a quick sigh of relief, everything seemed to be in working order, or at least good enough to make his way to the kitchen and try and find something good to eat. He was confident that Clay was a fellow carnivore, and it was extremely likely that the cowboy had some BBQ meat packed away somewhere.

After putting on the rest of his clothes, he proceeded to walk out the room.

He was almost glad he'd been here before, even if it was when he was uncontrollably good. He knew most of the corridors, the rooms, almost everything about this place; it was one of the few things that had made him valuable to the Heylin side.

As he wandered down the hall he passed a window. He turned his head, not really caring what he saw, but really just because he wanted to see something different then the same four walls he'd been looking at for twelve days.

However, when he spotted what was out of the window he stopped, eyes widening in interest.

It was the Shen Gong Wu vault house.

His hunger was slowly being forgotten as his old greed for Wu came seeping back into his mind. Maybe he couldn't steal any Wu for now, but he could just…maybe…poke around and check out what Wu they still had.

Maybe he could even take back the Third Eye of Zheng while he was at it; after all, he _had_ got it first.

He quickly made his way outside, passing quickly through the old, familiar corridors and wooden doors.

He blinked as he stepped outside into the bright sunlight; his eyes burned slightly and he shielded them with a hand.

"Damn sunlight," he muttered as he made his way across the courtyard. He didn't bother to use any stealth since everyone was off stopping his royal king-of-the-jerks, Chase Young.

As he walked up to the huge wooden doors of the vault he stopped, staring at the building. It looked like it had been there since the dawn of time, but Jack knew that was just clever architecture. The building had been destroyed more times then he could count on his fingers, probably his toes as well.

As Jack walked towards the door he grinned, _'I should really take advantage of people's hospitality more often'_

He put a hand on the main door and pushed, wincing at the loud creaking noise the door made as it slowly moved open. He may not need to be sneaky, but it didn't mean that he wanted to make much noise; after all, the monks could be back at any moment.

When the great door had been open enough, he peeked his head around, making sure that no one was guarding the place.

He smirked at the empty room before him. However, Jack wasn't about to go barging in. True, he may, at times, be a little bit foolish, but years of fighting the monks had taught him something.

They never let anyone get to their Wu.

However, he had also learned something else. They always guarded them badly. Really badly. But that's what you get when you entrust a dragon to come up with a guard system. Dojo was clever, but he couldn't keep up with the ultra-modern vault-busting methods that Jack came up with.

Jack took a second to hop down the steps and find a nice palm-sized rock. He then returned to the door and threw it into the room.

It landed with a patter in the centre. For a moment nothing happened, then, as if out of no where, a huge log came swinging down from the ceiling. This was followed by several spikes shooting out the walls and three large circular razors swinging out the walls.

Jack yawned. _God, these guys have really gotta think of something more original then this Indiana Jones crap._

After the cute little show of backwardness had ended Jack strode confidently into the room. He reached the beginning of the hidden staircase with a smile, and he was just about to step down on the first step to activate the staircase when a voice called out from behind him.

"Ahh, Jack Spicer, I see you are feeling better."

Jack spun around, his face the very picture of shock, panic, and surprise.

Standing, just at the side of the open door, was Master Fung.

He was a tall, thin old man, easily into his eighties, maybe even nineties, and it showed in his thin, Chinese face. He had bright blue eyes and black hair, evident by his moustache and curly Lenin-esque beard. He was bald and had many age lines on his face, but this only made him look wiser and more mature. However, his age was to have no judgement on his health, as he was easily one of the most powerful fighters in the world. The high master of the Xiaolin temple wore very simple robes. A light blue waistcoat, lose white shirt, black pants and simple monk sandals. Around his neck was a small gold medallion with a Chinese symbol engraved into it.

Jack was caught red-handed about to rob the vault, he was betraying his hosts kind hospitality, repaying their completely unasked medial assistance with his own selfish greedy desire for Wu.

Yet, the old man was smiling.

"I trust you are healing well?" Fung asked; that warm, knowing smile still on his face.

Jack looked around, his eyes darting around the room. Where were the monks? Where was the punishment?

Something in the teen's mind suddenly reminded him that he hadn't answered the man's question.

"Erm…yea, I'm doing well, I suppose." He stumbled out.

The old man smiled wider. "Good." and he stepped forward. Jack took in a sharp breath and backed quickly away.

Master Fung chuckled. "Don't worry Jack I'm not going to hurt you."

"Excuse me if I don't believe you." Jack sneered. However, the moment the words left his lips he froze up, eyes widening. '_What the **hell** was **THAT**!' _Jacks inner voice screamed,_ 'You've just sneered, at Master **friggin'** Fung! You know? MR Xiaolin monk master?!' _

For a second Master Fung froze, his eyes reflecting something that Jack couldn't recognise, but the thing vanished and Master Fung linked his hands together under the folds of his shirt. He even seemed to chuckle silently.

"Then I excuse you," He stepped aside and gestured towards the door in a calm, flowing way that only someone like him could do. "Would you like to join me for a walk about the temple?"

Jack was at first expressionless, then a smile began to itch its way onto his face. He laughed once, short and a sharp, then again, then broke out into hysterics.

Fung's expression dropped slightly, but his arm didn't.

Jack calmed down, grinning like crazy. "Are you serious? I was just about to rob the Wu vault and now you want me to take a nice summer's stroll with you? You can't be serious, old man."

Fung raised an eyebrow and finally let his arm drop, folding them back under his robe. "Might I remind you that I could be punishing you for being in here?"

Jack's grin dropped as Fung reminded him of this. He ran a tongue across his teeth as he looked down at the floor in thought. He looked back up, resting one hand on the back of his neck.

"Will you not mention this to the others?" Jack's expression was clearly apologetic, "Please? I'm not up for taking any more beatings this month."

Master Fung nodded.

Jack twitched a smile and began walking out of the room, Master Fung following the teen and shutting the huge door behind him.

The two walked side-by-side for a while in silence. Jack was feeling _really_ awkward about the whole scene. He _really_ didn't want to be doing this. His hunger had returned and was nagging annoyingly inside his belly. Plus, he was an evil teenage genius bent on world domination; Master Fung was the Xiaolin equivalent of Obi-Wan. This was hardly the number one place Jack wanted to be right now. There was also a silly little concern running around in his mind about someone seeing him with the old man. How's it going look for any Heylin who could be watching? It'll look like he's gone over to the other side, and that would be very, very dangerous for Jack's health.

His nervousness must have shown on his face as Fung's voice suddenly spoke, bringing Jack back from his thoughts.

"I heard what Chase did to you." Jack looked up at Fung as he continued, "It doesn't surprise me. Chase Young always did have a tight control over those on the Heylin side."

Jack huffed, "You're telling me."

Fung looked at a bird that was flying out of a tree and above their heads. "But that's the way the Heylin side has always been."

Jack blinked. "What'cha mean?"

Fung smiled at the boy. "The very ideas of the paths of Xiaolin monks and Heylin warriors oppose each other. Why do you think we fight?"

Jack shrugged. "I dunno. I always thought it was because we're the bad guys and you're the good guys."

Fung placed one hand behind his back and used the other to stroke his beard. "Yes and no. You see, while at first glance it is indeed a simple matter of good vs. evil, but, under closer inspection, do you really think that each side behaves in those exact mannerisms?"

Jack went to immediately answer yes, but then he thought about it. He'd showed his good side many a time. Rai had crossed sides once, a long time back, in fact, over the years each member of the Xiaolin monks had had a taste of the dark side, and sometimes it had been vice-versa. Even Chase had shown a degree of respect and honour towards his enemy.

Fung watched as Jack frowned in thought at this and the old man smiled. "See?"

"Yea…" Jack said slowly.

Master Fung looked forward again as they approached the Zen pond with the koi. "Our sides are also divided by ideals. We both wish to bring world peace and create equality for all, however, it is how we do this that differs."

Jack smirked. "World peace? Equality? I hardly think we Heylins want that."

Fung raised an eyebrow at Jack. "Oh really? Think about it Jack. If you were to rule the world, what would you do?"

"Well, firstly I would make the monks serve me candy all day, then-" Jack began quickly.

"I meant," Fung interrupted, "What would you do to the world, as a whole."

Jack scratched the side of his face lightly. "I dunno…I'd make everyone the same I suppose, and take all the power and weapons for myself."

Fung raises his other eyebrow. "World peace and equality?"

Jack went to argue but stopped as he realised the old man was right.

Fung smiled. "See, it is only in the ways we wish to achieve these goals that we differ. You wish to achieve them through power, fear and oppression. We wish to achieve them through talk, mediation and understanding."

Jack stopped at the edge of the pond, looking down onto the koi. "If that's true then why do you train in fighting and stuff?"

Master Fung also stopped to look down on the fish. "Because we must keep the balance between good and evil, we must fight so that the balance of power is never upset."

Jack nodded slowly. It really did make sense in a weird kinda way.

Jack sighed, he never used to think about things like this when he was a kid. But he'd grown older, just like everyone else, well, maybe with the exceptions of Chase and Wuya, who never seemed to age. He couldn't have remained a kid forever. He had turned from a foolish, cowardly kid into a slightly less foolish, but much less cowardly teenager. Jack was sure that this life had probably affected him in other ways, but he hadn't really taken any long in-depth looks at himself, so he really didn't know, or care.

But, this is what happens when you live in a reality like this.

He frowned as his eyes followed a black looking koi with a red star on his head, _'Speaking of realities…'_

"Hey, err, Master Fung?" Jack didn't like referring to the man as 'Master' but he had no choice as he didn't know the guys first name.

"Yes Jack?" The old man answered calmly.

"I had this really vivid dream the other day." Jack said, still concentrating on the fish. "And I mean _really, really _vivid dream. Seriously, it was like I was _there_."

"Really?" Fung turned his head to look at the teenager, "Tell me Jack, what happened in this dream?"

"Well, it wasn't so much what happened, but more like what I was being told, you know?" Jack looked up to the old man and sighed, scratching his cheek again. "This shrink was going on about how Chase Young was like, the epitome of all my fears and stuff."

Master Fung looked back to the pond, stroked his beard and made an understanding 'hum' noise. Jack continued. "Yea, and, erm, the guy said that this world was like, a dream or something. I was just making it all up so I didn't have to face the real world with all my fears and stuff." Jack smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Crazy dream, eh? Do you think it means anything?"

Jack hoped the old man didn't think he was insane or anything, although, he subtly wondered if he really cared or not. Jack suddenly yawned as a strange wave of tiredness overtook him.

Master Fung was silent for a moment before shrugging. "I don't know. Maybe it means you should conquer your fears. Maybe it has something to do with the Third Eye of Zheng, that Wu is very dangerous Jack, but its not yet clear if you've been affected by it or not."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why? What does it do?" '_Damn I want to sleep.'_

"It gives out great power." Fung said slowly. "But at a great cost, as Qin Shi Huang found out..."

Jack gave the old man a concerned yet curious look, but inside he was fighting against another yawn. "Great power?"

The old man frowned and looked down to his feet. "How else do you think he managed to defeat his rivals and rule China for so long?"

Jack had an odd mixture of excitement, as he could be about to develop powers to conquer entire nations, worry, as he didn't know what this 'price' was, and sleepiness.

He blinked as Master Fung turned to look at him. Was it Jack, or did everything seem a bit…whiter?

"I wouldn't worry though," The old man smiled, "You seem to be ok, and besides, soon its sister Wu should reveal itself, so any problems you may have can be solved."

Jack could feel his legs growing weak as sleep crept into them. "Master Fung…I feel…odd."

Jack blinked again, screwing up his eyes. He staggered back, shaking his head. When he looked back his eyes bugged and his mouth dropped in shock.

"Jack? What's the matter? What's wrong?" Dr Morrison's voice coming out of Master Fung's mouth. Master Fung was also wearing the Doctors clothes. The ground had taken on a padded quality, as did everything else around them. They where an odd mixture of white, and whatever colour they were originally. Needless to say, the whole thing was thoroughly disturbing to see.

Jack panicked, but in the same way, he didn't. He was too tired to panic. He finally collapsed onto his side. He was terrified of the way the world around him was morphing, changing, the ground re-shaping itself to become more padded, walls moving closer to make a square around him. Jack blinked again, tears of fear falling from his eyes as the Doctor Morrison-Master Fung person moved closer too him.

He almost choked on fear as Master Fung's face changed, melted and moved until the concerned face of Doctor Morrison was looking down at him.

His eyes finally shut, unable to look at what was happening around him, and his mind blanked out, shutting away the fear.

Jack felt like time had stopped. For what seemed an eternity, all Jack could see was blackness, the void of his sleep, but he could hear something. He could hear himself silently, emotionlessly asking, _'What's happening to me?'_

Then Jack Spicer finally opened his eyes.

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Well, I know that wasn't worth it, but hey it IS an update after all.

Anyways, I'm going to try and work on this more sometime. I need to try and get at least another 2-3 chapters done.

Anyways, reviews are nice! They make me smile and go "Woo!"


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